Approach adopted

2.3.3 Chapters 4 and 5 are mainly concerned with the actions and competences required of a language user/learner in respect of any one language in order to communicate with other users of that language. Much of Chapter 6 relates to ways in which the necessary abilities can be developed and how that development can be facilitated. Chapter 7 takes a closer look at the role of tasks in language use and language learning. However, the full implications of adopting a plurilingual and pluricultural approach have yet to be explored. Chapter 6 therefore also examines the nature and development of plurilingual competence. Its implications for the diversification of language teaching and educational policies are then explored in some detail in Chapter 8.

2.4Language assessment

The CEF is ‘A common European framework for language learning, teaching and assessment’. Up to this point, the focus has been upon the nature of language use and the language user and the implications for learning and teaching.

In Chapter 9, the final chapter, attention is concentrated on the functions of the Framework in relation to the assessment of language proficiency. The chapter outlines three main ways in which the Framework can be used:

1.for the specification of the content of tests and examinations.

2.for stating the criteria for the attainment of a learning objective, both in relation to the assessment of a particular spoken or written performance, and in relation to continuous teacher-, peeror self-assessment.

3.for describing the levels of proficiency in existing tests and examinations thus enabling comparisons to be made across different systems of qualifications.

The chapter then lays out in some detail the choices that have to be made by those conducting assessment procedures. The choices are presented in the form of contrasting pairs. In each case the terms used are clearly defined and the relative advantages and disadvantages are discussed in relation to the purpose of the assessment in its educational context. The implications of exercising one or another of the alternative options are also stated.

The chapter proceeds to consider questions of feasibility in assessment. The approach is based on the observation that a practical scheme of assessment cannot be over elaborate. Judgement must be used as to the amount of detail to be included, for instance, in a published examination syllabus, in relation to the very detailed decisions that have to be made in setting an actual examination paper or establishing a test bank. Assessors, particularly of oral performance, have to work under considerable time pressure and can only handle a strictly limited number of criteria. Learners who wish to assess their own proficiency, say as a guide to what they should tackle next, have more time, but will need to be selective concerning the components of overall communicative competence relevant to them. This illustrates the more general principle that the Framework must be comprehensive, but all its users must be selective. Selectivity may well involve the use of a simpler classificatory scheme which, as we have seen in relation to ‘communicative activities’ may well collapse categories separated in the general scheme. On the other hand, the user’s purposes may well mean expanding some categories and their exponents in

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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment

areas of special relevance. The chapter discusses the issues raised and illustrates the discussion by presenting the schemes adopted by a number of examining bodies for proficiency assessment criteria.

For many users, Chapter 9 will enable them to approach public examination syllabuses in a more insightful and critical manner, raising their expectations of what information examining bodies should provide concerning the objectives, content, criteria and procedures for qualifying examinations at national and international level (e.g. ALTE, ICC). Teacher trainers will find it useful for raising awareness of assessment issues among teachers in initial and in-service training. However, teachers are becoming increasingly responsible for the assessment of their pupils and students at all levels, both formative and summative. Learners, too, are increasingly called upon to carry out self-assessment, whether to chart and plan their learning or to report their ability to communicate in languages which they have not been formally taught, but which contribute to their plurilingual development.

The introduction of a European Language Portfolio with international currency is now under consideration. The Portfolio would make it possible for learners to document their progress towards plurilingual competence by recording learning experiences of all kinds over a wide range of languages, much of which would otherwise be unattested and unrecognised. It is intended that the Portfolio will encourage learners to include a regularly updated statement of their self-assessed proficiency in each language. It will be of great importance for the credibility of the document for entries to be made responsibly and transparently. Here reference to CEF will be particularly valuable.

Those professionally involved in test development as well as in the administration and conduct of public examinations may wish to consult Chapter 9 in conjunction with the more specialised Guide for Examiners (document CC-Lang(96)10 rev). This guide, which deals in detail with test development and evaluation is complementary to Chapter 9. It also contains suggestions for further reading, an appendix on item analysis and a glossary of terms.

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